~ Urban Glam Style / Spiritual Gangster

Skin&Earth

When I first heard Lights’ song Ice in like 2009 or 2010, I fell in love. I watched the music video all the time, and totally fell in love with this beautiful creature that is Lights. But somehow she kind of fell off my radar until March 2013 when I found out she was playing an acoustic show here in Seattle so I quickly ordered her most recent album from the time (Siberia Acoustic) and fell IN LOVE with it! I loved her acoustics even more than her electro-pops! So I ordered all her discography and from then on she was (and is) on of my all-time favorites. And now I wanna talk a little bit about her album Skin&Earth which ranked as my #3 favorite album of the year 2017 (it literally won an award I made up, I’ll post about that next month) I got this cool pre-order bundle and fell in love with the album and blah blah blah…Wasn’t listening to it as much but yesterday I was trying to figure out what album to play while I got ready and shot my outfit, and I instantly knew it had to be Skin&Earth. This album brought up my spirits, I was reminded of why I love it so much, and it influenced this shoot in even some quirky ways. So a main chunk of this post is about this album and how amazing it is and it’s inspiration to me, but the other parts are some other really cool stuff including Danon taking me to the Sky View of the Columbia Center in Seattle, the tallest building on the west coast or something! But yeah there’s the September bundle of Lights merch I got that I scattered throughout this post, then there’s my Kicks photoshoot which is the like…main shoot and also inspired and broken-down by each song of this album, info on all my outfit and makeup deets, and of course wrapped up every little part with a sprinkle of Skin&Earth. By the way, this awesome black top and jeans are both from Stitchfix, sign up to get your curated box for whenever you want a fix!

Track 1, Intro – In this post I’m going to talk a lot about the album Skin&Earth but also divide things up track by track, which is actually going pretty fun so far. However in my Kicks photoshoot I originally just wanted to do this photoshoot of this outfit because I was going on a cute date and it was a cute outfit, but I ended up playing this album the whole way through the shoot, so it inspired me a lot and gave me a lot of that kind of energy. It’s great, and I definitely am excited about this post. My Skin&Earth photoshoot of the Lights bundle that I got will be mixed in for sure as well, it’s a cute mini shoot I did in September just with tons of her merch. I’ll try to give good details on all my goodies. Info about my looks will be in bold (as well as some other important things) and song quotes and things will be italicized, so that’s your little heads-up code.

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Track 2, Skydiving – It all starts here, with a rush of blood to the head, and I feel no fear, and nothin’s happening yet. You pull me in, I’m doing things I never would do, my pulse racing, I’m coming alive with you! –

Honestly, Skydiving is one of the most relatable songs on the album for me, that’s the first quote from the song and it’s SO TRUE like in my new relationship I’m LIVING and experiencing things and facing fears I didn’t know I had and learning things I didn’t know I didn’t know and I feel my heart racing and…We adventure and we talk and he makes me laugh and he knows I’m awesome! I just had to rant about that, but it’s beautifully true. I tried to make a cute little set of pictures for each song and so that is below, and keep reading (or just lookout for the bold) for my outfit details! But yeah…Skydiving is below. (;

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Track 3, Until The Light – We live free, at least until the light. We waste time we’ll never get back, I don’t care don’t wanna go back. –

This song reminds me a lot of when I was younger, being a hooligan until the light. Nowadays I’m not as oriented in that sense, however I still feel this song. I understand what it feels like to want to be free, to go and live free, “pretending we’re alright”, and I think it’s really accurate and creative the way Lights put this track together. This album is phenomenal. Let me reveal a few outfit details, for my Kicks photoshoot, (not the on with the Lights shirt).

I got both the Distressed Skinny Jeans and Black Keyhole Knit Top from Stitchfix, I ordered a fix last week for my birthday and kept everything!! The jeans are the brand Just USA and they called these jeans the Riley Hip Zipper Frayed Hem Distressed Skinny Jean. Lol. They’re so cute and pretty stretchy so they totally fit me perfectly (they’re size 25) and I love that they’re ankle-cut. These jeans were only $58 but of course I got a 25% discount because I bought all 5 items from Stitchfix (;. They’re really getting to know my style! These jeans are stretchy enough for me to do all these weird positions for this Kicks shoot. Lol.

Track 4, Savage – We were heaven and the moon, in the center of my eye. And now it shines on you, and I would kiss your crown. And then out of the blue, you would cut me down, cut me down. –

This song really describes a lot of the last relationship I was in that was really unhealthy and abusive, and although she will NEVER take ANY responsibility for how she fucked me over, it’s okay and it doesn’t matter now, because months later she’s the one that’s broken and I’m the one who’s stronger. I don’t need her apologies I don’t care about the past, she’s savage, and I’m slaying! SAVAGE:

I really love this shirt. It’s so cute. It’s (like I said) from Stitchfix but the brand is Sophie Rue. They call it the Paola Keyhole Knit Top and I got an XS and the price was $38, and I felt like that was really perfect for this shirt. Like the price was good I mean, like in my first box there was a kinda plain top that I ADORED but it was $94. Yikes. But I just fixed my style quiz and they sent stuff I could afford so I got it all! Yay!! Anyway I love this top although I should wear a plain black bra under it next time instead of this lace one because it distracts a little.

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Track 5, New Fears – I will back you up, I will show you love, I will give you what I got til I cannot. Hold on tight, I’m breathing, breathing for you!

I admire this song. It’s AMAZING. I love the lyrics, and this is sooo fun to put on full blast and dance/sing to. This is a powerful, bombass song and if you truly love someone like your daughter or someone you live for then you’ll be able to relate hard to Lights right here!! AHH I love it!!

Since this has some closeups of my face I might as well mention some of my makeup details. I don’t have all the details written, however the main products on my face are:

Track 6, Morphine – When I call your name, I don’t feel the burn, standing in the flame, flame, flame. We end up on the floor, you set my head free. I want you more and more…Don’t wanna get clean. You’re like morphine, you are my morphine.

This song is so beautiful and definitely a favorite of mine. Plus I’m pretty sure Danon and Michael also totally love it so yeah this song slays. It’s so beautiful and honestly pretty relatable, every time I sing it when I’m with Danon in his car I just smile so wide as I slowly sing “I want you more, and more…” Then he looks at me and I wonder if he sees the stars in my eyes. (:

I should mention these shoes again even though I like always wear these shoes. Lol, best thrift store find to this date to be honest. They’re Guess white platform shoes that I found at Plato’s Closet.

In the Lights Skin&Earth bundle that I got, I got a few things, including a black shirt that says Lights (SUPER comfy) plus a really cool signed poster. Plus things like a logo pin, which is on my shirt right there. (You can see it better in the track 4&5 sections). Kinda weird lighting, but yeah. They still have the bundle on the site and it says out of stock, but who knows, they might restock so put in your e-mail! Here’s the bundle for whoever wants to check it out. They also gave me a Skin&Earth Logo Patch which I put on my denim jacket which you can see below!

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Track 7, We Were Here – Dressed up, messed up, put on a show, so the whole damn world’s gonna know…that we were here!

This song is so fun! So yeah I used some of my fave pics below for this track. But anyway, I love the concept of this song, because it reminds me a lot of Until The Light but with a more…signature style, instead of just pretending you’re alright gettin’ into scrapes until sunrise it’s more like doing what you’re gonna do and leaving your mark on anyone, anything, any air, or even just yourself, so that they all know that YOU WERE HERE. It’s a powerful feeling, you can totally be a hooligan but even if you’re not you can still make your mark and set flames and take names just because you own the town! Don’t forget the power that YOU have!

I seem to always wear this sterling silver heart charm necklace, because it’s like my good-luck charm. But also, I’m wearing my amethyst bracelet here, which I ADORE, rock jewelry is my FAVORITE kind! I love the little powers of bracelets like this and I got it for like $4 at my favorite rock store (it’s called More Than Rocks and it’s in Kent, Washington. We totally know the owners coincidentally too!) Anyway I swear I feel the power of these bracelets every time I wear them. Amethyst is one of my favorite crystals in terms of how it looks, the only one I think is prettier to wear is Rose Quartz, and then trailing behind those two is Citrine.

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Track 8, Kicks – Tell me ’bout the last time you got free. Laughed til your sides split, cut your knees. Do you wanna take a trip with me? It’s how we get our kicks! Machete and the sticks, lost in the thick of it with you!

Dang this song is so awesome to me. I mean also the lyric “I gotta lot of problems, I ain’t lookin’ for more.” When this song was playing when I was playing this album and doing my shoot, I’m like omg, this is the name! This is the theme, this is the attitude, this is the photoshoot! And so it became the Kicks photoshoot. Tbh these pictures don’t describe it as well as they should, I should have used the super fun ones! Either way though, I was having SO much fun shooting in the corner of my room like that. And I think it matches this attitude. It’s how I get my kicks!

Lol I edited some of these weird. Have you noticed yet that all these pics are edited slightly different? Even just in contrast or saturation or how weird I made the one on the bottom left up there. I think it’s awesome though! I loved sitting in those positions and I loved shooting this shoot overall, honestly. It was fun and it is fun! Thank you Lights for your endless inspiration.

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Track 9, Giants – We could be giants, bigger than the walls that hide us! Breaking all the laws of science, looking at a sea of diamonds. If we could be, we could be giants!

This was the first single from the album and I FELL IN LOVE WITH IT HARDCORE. I would sing it all the time and play it all the time and I would always talk about how much I loved the lyrics. If only I knew what was coming, September 2017, of this full album, Skin&Earth. At the very end of this post I’m going to post a video of me singing to Giants like the first day it came out.

I feel like I’ve been doing so much better with my photoshoots than I used to. Yes I do like all my shoots in my room, and that’s totally my choice, and kinda my thang. But I’ve been getting creative with it. I’ve been able to get a lot of really good shots, whereas back in the day I was good at it but it seems like I’m more naturally skilled with each shot now, maybe from my attitude or my growth or my experience or who knows what, but I sat in the corner of my room and walked back and forth to my camera for half an hour and was able to get so many various shots, and then divide all of them up by vibe of a song! That does take skill! I am really proud! Let’s see more of this.

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Track 10, Moonshine – Midnight sun in my eyes, stars are blazing, I feel amazing! I sleep through the noon, wake up for the moon, shine, this is my time!

Another cute song with this sort of theme, and I really like the young vibe of this one. It’s adorable but she still is someone I can take seriously and listen to all the time and understand and relate to — how could an artist be that creative? How can an album be so fun, make everything feel so fun and inspire an entire shoot on a fantastic day of mine? The world may never know. Just kidding, we already know, it’s just Lights of course.

Isn’t this the cutest poster in the world though? Anyway that Lights merch shirt is in my top 5 favorite merch shirts so you KNOW it’s good, I just love the fit and the comfort oh my gosh!! I’m at around 80ish merch shirts sooo…so yeah, wow, like when I saw the shirt online I thought it was boring, but it’s so perfectly comfy. I LOVE LIGHTS.

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Track 11, Interlude – So this was all I had to do, falling, fall into the web with you. Thank you, for what you show me how to do. Thank you, ’cause now I’m not alone again. Now I’m not alone.

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Track 12, Magnetic Field – Walk with me through the bone yard, I know you like to play hard, you know I’m easy to convince.

This is easily my favorite track on this album currently. It’s beautiful, sensual, it makes me want to dance and sing and live and breathe and it makes me smile…Although, not really relatable lyrics. Either way, this song is completely enchanting, completely…compelling, I don’t ever want to stop listening to it!

Something about our opposites attract, you hold me down. I’m in it for real. You might be able to tell at this point that I’m running out of things to write because I’ve just about explained everything already, but I’m still going to show you the rest of these tracks and tell you some about them and also tell you random cool things. PS, like I’ve said a million times, I’m really proud of this shoot. (The Kicks one)

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Track 13, Fight Club – Throw my hands up ’cause I’ve had enough, it’s goin’ through my head like it always does. Come and show me what you’re made of! All that we sacrifice for love, throw it up when push comes to shove, gotta have it out like fight club.

I love this song! It’s so fun. I love the lyrics too, haha. I love how with this album Lights really created this entire new style out of thin air that nobody, not even her, has touched before, and it’s amazing to watch her slay it.

This is sort of random, but can anyone notice the difference between my September shoot with the Lights merch verses me now? I’ve evolved so much even in a couple months! I’m like…happier, I glow more, I feel and look more grown up, and these random pictures of my legs aren’t very good examples LOL but I mean compare this merch pic to other pics of me/my face. Do you see the new glow? The new drive? It inspires me so much to even see my own transformation. I’m growing so much. SO MUCH. I’m 19 now (;

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Track 14, Almost Had Me – I was a knife in a gun fight, and I fought so madly. You were a wolf in the daylight, and you almost had me.

I love this song so INCREDIBLY much because it’s so true honestly, because like again…She almost had me. But she didn’t know the cost when she broke her promise (over and over and over and over), and when her bombs went off they would come down on us. She can play a victim, but I’m not playing anything, I wish her well and I hope things get better, and I hope she sees that she’s wasting her life trying to tear down mine. Honey, you can’t touch me.

I guess I knew when your heart stopped beating, I would never let you sink your teeth in.

You almost had me. But now he does, and I have what I deserve, and you, well… I don’t even need to go there. Sorry to seem kinda depressing sounding guys, it wasn’t supposed to! Lol, my point is, there’s a reason why I have such a good life, even though she constantly tries to harass me to this day. I deserve every single thing I have! 🙂 That includes you, Danon. You’re the fricken best, cutiepie.

Anyway SUCH A PERFECT ENDING TO THIS ALBUM!

Such a perfect album!!! Ahhh! Favorite tracks: Magnetic Field, New Fears, Morphine, Almost Had Me, and Kicks of course! What are your favorites?

Now I want to finish this post with some adorable pictures and some fun selfies I took before the Kicks shoot and stuff, and then I’ll close it with a video of me singing to Giants around the day it came out because it’s adorable. I love you all SO SO SO much, I have the best readers/followers, the best friends, the BEST boyfriend of alllll time oml how am I so lucky, the best family, the best support and the best possible strength I can muster.

This CUTEASS boy surprised me with bringing me to the Columbia Center up to the Sky View, and yet we were over 900ft up in the air and the city looked INCREDIBLE! I honestly started crying in the car when we were almost there and he told me where we were going because it was so considerate, like how I would mention I wanted to go to the tops of high buildings and stuff, so we went on this adventure just because he’s that fuckin’ sweet and then we went to Serious Pie and it was one of the best days I’ve had in FOREVER! But yeah this was just a couple hours after I did that Kicks shoot 🙂

And finally, June 26th, jamming to Giants, OBSESSED when it first came out, and here I am half a year later, jamming to this album on a loop over and over and over and over while I write about it. Lights, I love you so much. I can’t wait to see you in February.